Sentani

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A language of Indonesia

ISO 639-3
set
Alternate Names
Buyaka
Autonym
Sentani
User Population

30,000 (1996 SIL), increasing. Few monolinguals.

Location

Papua province: Lake Sentani area, about 30 scattered villages; scattered in other parts of Indonesia.

Language Maps
Language Status

5* (Developing).

Classification
East Bird’s Head-Sentani, Sentani, Sentani Proper
Dialects

East Sentani, West Sentani, Central Sentani. Lexical similarity: 30% with Tabla [tnm].

Typology

SOV; postpositions; dual number; verb suffixes mark number and person; 10 consonants and 7 vowels; tense-aspect-mood markers; inclusive/exclusive pronouns.

Language Use

Vigorous use in most families. All domains. Positive attitudes. Also use Indonesian [ind].

Language Development

Literacy rate in L1: 16%. Literacy rate in L2: 50%–75%. About 5,000. Schools are beginning to use Sentani grades 1 to 6. Dictionary. Grammar. NT: 1997.

Language Resources
OLAC resources in and about Sentani
Writing

Latin script [Latn].

Other Comments

Traditional religion, Christian.